Melvin talked to A’s about lapses; 1914 uniforms and more

The A’s are having a dreadful road trip, dropping four of five games, and they flat out haven’t played well, with some mental errors starting to creep in, including baserunning mistakes and, on the other side, some failures by the pitching staff to hold runners.

Manager Bob Melvin said he spoke to the team after last night’s game about the mistakes, just briefly. (The flubs: Jonny Gomes was picked off in a key spot in the first inning, Alberto Callaspo was doubled off second after thinking a flyball by Andy Parrino had dropped in, Nate Freiman made an error at first.)

“Just real briefly,” Melvin said of his talk with his players. “That’s the thing about this team, they’re pretty easy to deal with because they’re very accountable with what they do and they all want to win and they’re all on board with what we do.”

Melvin said the stretch of 17 consecutive games in a row the A’s are in doesn’t excuse the flubs.

“Maybe when you’re not playing as well and you do have a stretch, maybe it’s a combination of things,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean it’s OK. There are plenty of teams that have to go through 17, 20 day stretches without a game off. It’s part of what baseball’s all about. It doesn’t make it OK.”

The A’s have two days off in four days coming up, and they’ll skip Jason Hammel as a result, as I reported this morning. It’s entirely likely he’ll be skipped and then some: Jesse Chavez and Drew Pomeranz are both being considered for that spot in the rotation the next time a fifth starter is needed.

It’s 1914 uniforms for both teams tonight (the 1914 Braves were the “Miracle Braves” – they swept Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics teams in the World Series). In today’s Chronicle, Brandon Moss explained why Josh Donaldson will look the best in tonight’s uniform.